Racism and bigotry in Dave Chapelle's comedy. Laughing at inequity (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, language: English, abstract: I will try to shine a light of the role of humor in African American culture in this paper. Regarding the everyday racism that minorities in general and African Americans in particular face in the United States to this day, it is no surprise to find African American comedians employ many tactics to either highlight, demask, ridicule, or turn the concept of racism upside down in their stand-up routines, TV shows, or movies.

The examination focuses on how Dave Chappelle managed to create joy and laughter from ridiculing racism and bigotry in his TV show "Chappelle's Show" during its three-season run from 2003 through 2006. The focus of my interest lies in how Chappelle and his co-writer Neal Brennan tackle racism in their TV show. I will examine two sketches from Chappelle's Show, namely, "Frontline - Clayton Bigsby", and "Jury Duty" to answer the question whether Chappelle and Brennan do live up to Pérez', Thomas', and Mintz' assessment of a comedian's role in the American society.